ARCH Board Member Meets with President of Kabul University

We are pleased to announce that the president of Kabul University has agreed to cooperate with us to build the inaugural Rumi Garden.

Our Rumi Garden project has come a long way. We first explored the possibility of building this Garden in Balkh, Afghanistan – the birthplace of Rumi. But the area is unsafe at the moment, and additionally there are infrastructure constraints that make it difficult for prospective visitors to reach. Professor Habibullah Habib, President of Kabul University, then invited us to site the first garden on his campus instead. He met with our Board member Dr. Zalmay Khalilzad to explain his vision and to suggest several possible locations – our garden architect Jeff Lee will make the final selection during his upcoming visit to Kabul. An education center will accompany the garden, incorporating audio-visual components, and serving as a space for lectures and poetry readings. We expect to break ground on this project in Spring 2016.